Matters of the HEART
by messymind
Summary: Pan tries to take Emma's heart as a crestfallen Killian Jones comes to a realization...


A/N ...I own nothing ...notta ...zip...so don't sue

HEART MATTERS...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," his voice ripped through the dark heart of the island as he watched helplessly, his body restrained against the hard unforgiving trunk of a rugged oak, held back by a magical force.

"Oh, No dear Captain, this is very much a yes," Pan's shrill voice chuckled, each word the demon child uttered drawn out and laced with menace. His shadowy figure leering about, watching as the scene unfolded. He could still see her clearly from his vantage point but that was obviously what the boy wanted, to have him watch as he crushed Emma's heart in front of him.

Emma's jaw was set in a tight line. Her eyes never leaving his blue ones as he felt his inner demons wrestling with each other, as he struggled relentlessly against the invisible bonds. He watched as boney fingers inch slowly, as if to taunt him more, toward her heart. The same invisible magical bonds were also holding her in place, in the middle of a sacrificial circle.

But why wasn't she fighting...using her magic... he willed his eyes to close but the magic that seemed to be holding him was forcing them to remain open as well. Fate it seemed was playing a cruel game with him yet again. He couldn't stand to watch another woman he loved lose her heart; he'd not recover that this time. Her loss would be the one that would finally break him; there would be no recovery a second time, no second chance at love. It had taken him 300 years to find his saviour, he doubted he'd last another 300. He only hoped that this demon would take some pity on him and finish him off as well. Wait...what? Oh Gods, he **loved** her...Memories of their moments flashed through his mind...

_All these past months in Neverland, it was her, all her, she'd saved him from himself and from the darkness that had consumed him. And somewhere amongst near misses with mermaids, near kisses in the dark, fighting alongside her, her breath against his skin as she tended his wounds after an ambush with the Lost Boys, nightly drinks under the cloak of darkness the stars their only light and then the day she finally __**really **__smiled at him, melting his heart at the same time. And all their moments before...since he'd met her and when their eyes had locked for the first time, she had stirred something deep inside him, awoken something in his soul. Somewhere along there she'd stolen his heart and he'd fallen irrevocably in love with her fire, her beauty and her sprit. _

His heart clenched as Pans ghostly fingers disappeared under her porcelain skin. Well he wasn't about to let her go without knowing.

"Emma...I Lov..." The remainder of his confession got lost on the wind as her stormy green eyes locked with his once more and a blinding light shot forth, completely crippling Pan and his minions. He felt the magic that was restraining him dissipate and the Shadow that had been lurking about burst into nothingness.

Her eyes broke from his for only a moment to look down at the crippled form of Pan "I guess you didn't get the memo JERK, I'm magical and full of hope," she looked back at him quickly and winked "oh yeah and my heart can't be taken either, sorry!" And with that her magic swept Pan off to the side and he crossed the distance between them and placed a shaky hand over her heart. He paused letting his body soak in the steady beat underneath her chilled skin. His eyes closed then and he let out a shaky breath, one that he hadn't realized he'd even been holding, as his forehead fell against hers. The tension that had been crippling his body slowly fell away.

"Now, you were saying something?" Her voice broke him from his reveling and his blue eyes found hers.

"Oh Lass...I..." The air hung thick and charged, his earlier confession weighing on his tongue got lost as he felt her hand curl around the back of his neck and her lips captured his in a soul searing kiss that sent his body and mind into overload. He could feel the magic that burst out of them the moment their lips connected and felt it ripple in waves as they continued their lips and tongues fighting the other for dominance. Finally and only because the need for oxygen was too great they broke apart and he watched as she opened her eyes gingerly, fearing that it was all just a dream but then her eyes reconnected with his...

"Love you," she whispered in a voice so low that it was hardly audible over the pounding of their thundering hearts.

Neither had noticed that the air was clearer, fresher...their love had lifted the curse that had held Neverland in darkness for so long...the magic of True Love had cleansed the land.


End file.
